Art that isn’t for sale–at any cost

By Alyson Stanfield on February 11, 2007

Did you ever make a piece of art that you would never sell–no matter how much was offered?

P.S. 1 in New York is opening “Not for Sale,” an exhibition containing artwork that the artists have vowed never to sell. It’s a response to what the curator deems an overly-commercial market. Down-and-dirty “art for art’s sake”!

Of course, the irony here is that now people will want this work more than ever. Will we hear about how much was offered to the artists for the individual pieces? Will the artists stand their ground as they had promised and never ever sell the work?

Is it good to have such purist goals? Or is it detrimental that the curator has such negative feelings about today’s art market?